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Arab Israelis
Arab citizens of Israel ( ) ( ), or Israeli Arab and Arab Israeli in short ( al-Arab al-Isrāʼīliyyin) ( Aravim Yisra'elim) are non-Jewish Israeli citizens, the majority of whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab or Palestinian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_Arabs#Terminology. The traditional vernacular of most Arab citizens, irrespective of religion, is the Palestinian dialect of Arabic. Most Arab citizens of Israel are functionally bilingual, their second language being Modern Hebrew. By religious affiliation, most are Muslim, particularly of the Sunni branch of Islam. There is a significant Arab Christian minority from various denominations as well as Druze, among other religious communities. Israeli Mizrahi Jews are not considered to form part of this population. Terminology How to refer to the Arab citizenry of Israel is a highly politicized issue and there are a number of self-identification labels used by members of this community. Generally speaking, supporters of Israel tend to use Israeli Arab or Arab Israeli to refer to this population, while critics of Israel (or supporters of Palestinians) tend to use Palestinian or Palestinian Arab without referencing Israel. According to the New York Times, most prefer now to identify themselves as Palestinian citizens of Israel rather than as Israeli Arabs.Jodi Rudoren, Service to Israel Tugs at Identity of Arab Citizens, New York Times 12 July 2012: ‘After decades of calling themselves Israeli Arabs, which in Hebrew sounds like Arabs who belong to Israel, most now prefer Palestinian citizens of Israel.’ The New York Times uses both 'Palestinian Israelis'Editorial, 'Israel’s Embattled Democracy', New York Times 21 July 2012 : “Israeli Palestinians are not required to join the army, and most do not. Many feel like second-class citizens and are deeply conflicted about their place in Israeli society.” and 'Israeli Arabs' to refer to the same population. Common practice in contemporary academic literature is to identify this community as Palestinian as it is how the majority self-identify (See Self-Identification below for more). Terms preferred by most Arab citizens to identify themselves include Palestinians, Palestinians in Israel, Israeli Palestinians, the Palestinians of 1948, Palestinian Arabs, Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel or Palestinian citizens of Israel. There are, however, individuals from among the Arab citizenry who reject the term Palestinian altogether. A minority of Israel's Arab citizens include "Israeli" in some way in their self-identifying label; the majority identify as Palestinian by nationality and Israeli by citizenship. The Israeli establishment prefers Israeli Arabs or Arabs in Israel, and also uses the terms the minorities, the Arab sector, Arabs of Israel and Arab citizens of Israel. These labels have been criticized for denying this population a political or national identification, obscuring their Palestinian identity and connection to Palestine. The term Israeli Arabs in particular is viewed as a construct of the Israeli authorities. It is nonetheless used by a significant minority of the Arab population, "reflecting its dominance in Israeli social discourse." Other terms used to refer to this population include Palestinian Arabs in Israel, Israeli Palestinian Arabs, and the Arabs inside the Green Line (or the Arabs within Arabic: عرب الداخل). The latter appellation, among others listed above, are not applied to the East Jerusalem Arab population or the Druze in the Golan Heights, as these territories were occupied by Israel in 1967. As the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics defines the area covered in its statistics survey as including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, the number of Arabs in Israel is calculated as just over 20% of the Israeli population (2010).Israel in Figures 2010, Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, 2010. History 1948 Arab-Israeli War Most Israelis refer to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War as the War of Independence, while most Arab citizens refer to it as the Nakba (catastrophe), a reflection of differences in perception of the purpose and outcomes of the war. In the aftermath of the 1948 war, British Mandate of Palestine was de facto divided into three parts: the State of Israel, the Jordanian-held West Bank, and the Egyptian-held Gaza Strip. Of the estimated 950,000 Arabs that lived in the territory that became Israel before the war, over 80% fled or were expelled; some 156,000 remained. Benny Morris says Most of Palestine's 700,000 "refugees" fled their homes because of the flail of war (and in the expectation that they would shortly return to their homes on the backs of victorious Arab invaders). But it is also true that there were several dozen sites, including Lydda and Ramla, from which Arab communities were expelled by Jewish troops. Arab citizens of Israel are largely composed of these people and their descendants. Others include some from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank who procured Israeli citizenship under family-unification provisions that were recently made significantly more stringent. Arabs who left their homes during the period of armed conflict, but remained in what had become Israeli territory, were considered to be "present absentees". In some cases, they were refused permission to return to their homes, which were expropriated and turned over to state ownership, as was the property of other Palestinian refugees.Pappé Ilan (1992) "The Making of the Arab Israeli Conflict 1947–1951"; I B Tauris, p.72 ISBN 1-85043-819-6Morris, Benny (2001). Revisiting the Palestinian exodus of 1948. In The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948 (pp. 37–59). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-79476-5 Some 274,000, or 1 of every 4 Arab citizens of Israel are "present absentees" or internally displaced Palestinians.Badil Resource Centre for Palestinian Refugee and Residency RightsInternal Displacement Monitoring Center - Israel Notable cases of "present absentees" include the residents of Saffuriyya and the Galilee villages of Kafr Bir'im and Iqrit.Féron, pp. 94, 97–99 1949–1966 While most Arabs remaining in Israel were granted citizenship, they were subject to martial law in the early years of the state.1967: Israel, the War, and the Year ... – Google BooksKodmani-Darwish, p. 126, Féron, pp. 37 and 40 Travel permits, curfews, administrative detentions, and expulsions were part of life until 1966. A variety of Israeli legislative measures facilitated the transfer of land abandoned by Arabs to state ownership. These included the Absentee Property Law of 1950 which allowed the state to take control of land belonging to land owners who emigrated to other countries, and the Land Acquisition Law of 1953 which authorized the Ministry of Finance to transfer expropriated land to the state. Other common legal expedients included the use of emergency regulations to declare land belonging to Arab citizens a closed military zone, followed by the use of Ottoman legislation on abandoned land to take control of the land.Féron, p. 94 Arabs that held Israeli citizenship were entitled to vote for the Israeli Knesset. Arabic Knesset members have served in office since the First Knesset. The first Arab Knesset members were Amin-Salim Jarjora and Seif el-Din el-Zoubi who were members of the Democratic List of Nazareth party and Tawfik Toubi member of the Maki party. In 1965 a radical independent Arab group called al-Ard forming the Arab Socialist List tried to run for Knesset elections. The list was banned by the Israeli Central Elections Committee. In 1966, martial law was lifted completely, and the government set about dismantling most of the discriminatory laws, while Arab citizens were granted the same rights as Jewish citizens under law.Kodmani, p. 126 1967–2000 After the 1967 Six-Day War, Arab citizens were able to contact Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the first time since the establishment of the state. This along with the lifting of military rule, led to increased political activism among Arab citizens. In 1974, a committee of Arab mayors and municipal councilmen was established which played an important role in representing the community and pressuring the Israeli government.Kodmani, p. 129 This was followed in 1975 by the formation of the Committee for the Defense of the Land, which sought to prevent continuing land expropriations.Féron, p. 41 That same year, a political breakthrough took place with the election of Arab poet Tawfiq Ziad, a Maki member, as mayor of Nazareth, accompanied by a strong communist presence in the town council.Féron, p. 106 In 1976, six Arab citizens of Israel were killed by Israeli security forces at a protest against land expropriations and house demolitions. The date of the protest, 30 March, has since been commemorated annually as Land Day. The 1980s saw the birth of the Islamic Movement. As part of a larger trend in the Arab World, the Islamic Movement emphasized moving Islam into the political realm. The Islamic movement built schools, provided other essential social services, constructed mosques, and encouraged prayer and conservative Islamic dress. The Islamic Movement began to have an impact on electoral politics particularly at the local level. Many Arab citizens supported the First Intifada and assisted Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, providing them with money, food, and clothes. A number of strikes were also held by Arab citizens in solidarity with Palestinians in the occupied territories. The years leading up to the Oslo Accords were a time of optimism for Arab citizens. During the administration of Yitzhak Rabin, Arab parties played an important role in the formation of a governing coalition. Increased participation of Arab citizens was also seen at the civil society level. However, tension continued to exist with many Arabs calling for Israel to become a "state of all its citizens", thereby challenging the state's Jewish identity. In the 1999 elections for prime minister, 94% of the Arab electorate voted for Ehud Barak. However, Barak formed a broad left-right-center government without consulting the Arab parties, disappointing the Arab community. 2000–present Tensions between Arabs and the state rose in October 2000 when 12 Arab citizens and one man from Gaza were killed while protesting the government's response to the Second Intifada. In response to this incident, the government established the Or Commission. The events of October 2000 caused many Arabs to question the nature of their Israeli citizenship. To a large extent, they boycotted the 2001 Israeli Elections as a means of protest. Ironically, this boycott helped Ariel Sharon defeat Ehud Barak. In 1999 elections, more than 90 percent of Israel's Arab minority had voted for Ehud Barak.Bar-On, D., The others within us, 2008 IDF enlistment by Bedouin citizens of Israel dropped significantly.Embattled Identities: Palestinian Soldiers in the Israeli Military, Rhoda Kanaaneh, Journal of Palestine Studies, 32, no. 3 (spring, 2003), pp. 5–20 During the 2006 Lebanon War, Arab advocacy organizations complained that the Israeli government had invested time and effort to protect Jewish citizens from Hezbollah attacks, but had neglected Arab citizens. They pointed to a dearth of bomb shelters in Arab towns and villages and a lack of basic emergency information in Arabic. Many Israeli Jews viewed the Arab opposition to government policy and sympathy with the Lebanese as a sign of disloyalty. In October 2006, tensions rose when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert invited a right-wing political party Yisrael Beiteinu, to join his coalition government. The party leader, Avigdor Lieberman, advocated an ethnicity based territory exchange, the Lieberman Plan, by transferring heavily populated Arab areas (mainly the Triangle), to Palestinian Authority control and annexing major Jewish Israeli settlement blocs in the West Bank close to the green line as part of a peace proposal. Arabs who would prefer to remain in Israel instead of becoming citizens of a Palestinian state would be able to move to Israel. All citizens of Israel, whether Jews or Arabs, would be required to pledge an oath of allegiance to retain citizenship. Those who refuse could remain in Israel as permanent residents. In January 2007 the first non-Druze Arab minister in Israel's history, Raleb Majadele, was appointed minister without portfolio (Salah Tarif, a Druze, had been appointed a minister without portfolio in 2001). The appointment was criticized by the left, which felt it was an attempt to cover up the Labor Party's decision to sit with Yisrael Beiteinu in the government, and by the right, who saw it as a threat to Israel's status as a Jewish state. Lieberman calls on Peretz to quit post for appointing first Arab minister Haaretz, 12 January 2007 Sectarian and religious groupings In 2006, the official number of Arab residents in Israel — including East Jerusalem permanent residents many of whom are not citizens — was 1,413,500 people, about 20% of Israel’s population. , including permanent residents. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (May 2003), Muslims, including Bedouins, make up 82% of the entire Arab population in Israel, along with around 9% Druze, and 9% Christians."The Arab Population of Israel 2003," Nurit Yaffe, Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, http://www.cbs.gov.il/statistical/arab_pop03e.pdf. Projections based on 2010 data, predicted that Arab Israelis will constitute 25% of Israel's population by 2025. The national language and mother tongue of Arab citizens, including the Druze, is Arabic and the colloquial spoken language is of the Palestinian Arabic dialect. Knowledge and command of Modern Standard Arabic varies. Muslims Settled Traditionally settled communities of Muslim Arabs comprise about 70% of the Arab population in Israel. In 2010, the average number of children per mother was 3.84, dropping from 3.97 in 2008. The Muslim population is mostly young: 42% of Muslims are under the age of 15. The median age of Muslim Israelis is 18, while the median age of Jewish Israelis is 30. The percentage of people over 65 is less than 3% for Muslims, compared with 12% for the Jewish population. Bedouin (nomadic) According to the Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel, 110,000 Bedouins live in the Negev, 50,000 in the Galilee, and 10,000 in the central region of Israel.The Bedouin in Israel: Demography Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1 July 1999 Prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948, there were an estimated 65,000–90,000 Bedouin living in the Negev. The 11,000 who remained were relocated by the Israeli government in the 1950s and 1960s to an area in the northeastern Negev comprising 10% of the Negev desert. The Israeli government built seven development towns for the Bedouin between 1979 and 1982. Around half the Bedouin population live in these towns, the largest of which is the city of Rahat, others being Ar'arat an-Naqab (Ar'ara BaNegev), Bir Hadaj, Hura, Kuseife, Lakiya, Shaqib al-Salam (Segev Shalom) and Tel as-Sabi (Tel Sheva). Approximately 40%–50% of Bedouin citizens of Israel live in 39–45 unrecognized villages that are not connected to the electrical grid and water mains."Off the Map: Land and Housing Rights Violations in Israel’s Unrecognized Bedouin Villages"; Human Rights Watch, March 2008 Volume 20, No. 5(E)Bedouin information, ILA, 2007 Druze Most Israeli Druze live in the north of the country and enjoy a separate status from Arabs. The Galilean Druze and Druze of the Haifa region received Israeli citizenship automatically in 1948. The Druze of the Golan Heights, captured in 1967 from Syria and annexed to Israel in 1981, are considered permanent residents under the Golan Heights Law. The majority turned down full Israeli citizenship in favor of retaining Syrian citizenship and identity. During the British Mandate for Palestine, the Druze did not embrace the rising Arab nationalism of the time or participate in violent confrontations. In 1948, many Druze volunteered for the Israeli army and no Druze villages were destroyed or permanently abandoned. Since the establishment of the state, the Druze have demonstrated solidarity with Israel and distanced themselves from Arab and Islamic radicalism.The Druze in Israel: Questions of Identity, Citizenship, and Patriotism It is in keeping with Druze religious theology to serve the country in which they live. The Druze are conscripted into the Israel Defense Forces. From 1957, the Israeli government formally recognized the Druze as an independent religious community. The Druze are defined as a distinct ethnic group in the Israeli Ministry of Interior's census registration. While the Israeli education system is basically divided into Hebrew and Arabic speaking schools, the Druze have autonomy within the Arabic speaking branch. Compared to other Arab citizens of Israel, Druze place less emphasis on Arab identity and self-identify more as Israeli. Most do not identify as Palestinians. Druze politicians in Israel include Ayoob Kara, who represented Likud in the Knesset; Majalli Wahabi of Kadima, the Deputy Speaker of the Knesset; and Said Nafa of the Arab party Balad.Druse MK next in line for presidency Christians Christian Arabs comprise about 9% of the Arab population in Israel. Approximately 70% reside in the north, in Jish, Eilabun, Kafr Yasif, Kafr Kanna, I'billin, Shefa-'Amr. Some Druze villages such as Hurfeish and Maghar, have small Christian Arab populations. Nazareth has the largest Christian Arab population. There are 117,000 or more Christian Arabs in Israel.SOCIETY: Minority Communities, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Christian Arabs have been prominent in Arab political parties in Israel and these leaders have included Archbishop George Hakim, Emile Toma, Tawfik Toubi, Emile Habibi, and Azmi Bishara. Notable Christian religious figures include the Melkite Archbishops of the Galilee Elias Chacour and Boutros Mouallem, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah, and Bishop Munib Younan of the Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land. Israeli Supreme Court judge Salim Joubran is a Christian Arab. Christian Arabs are one of the most educated groups in Israel. Maariv have describe the Christian Arabs sectors as "the most successful in education system",המגזר הערבי נוצרי הכי מצליח במערכת החינוך) since Christian Arabs fared the best in terms of education in comparison to any other group receiving an education in Israel.Christians in Israel: Strong in education Christian Arabs have one of the highest rates of success in the matriculation examinations, (64%)Christians in Israel: Strong in education both in comparison to the Muslims and the Druze and in comparison to all students in the Jewish education system as a group. although lower than the secular Jewish education (64.5%) and the national religious Jewish education (65.9%).http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/education/1.1217789 Arab Christians were also the vanguard in terms of eligibility for higher education. and they have attained a bachelor's degree and academic degree more than the median Israeli population. The rate of students studying in the field of medicine was also higher among the Christian Arab students, compared with all the students from other sectors. the percentage of Arab Christian women who are higher education students is higher than other sectors. Self-identification The relationship of Arab citizens to the State of Israel is often fraught with tension and can be regarded in the context of relations between minority populations and state authorities elsewhere in the world. Arab citizens consider themselves to be an indigenous people. The tension between their Palestinian Arab national identity and their identity as citizens of Israel was famously described by an Arab public figure as: "My state is at war with my nation". Between 1948 and 1967, very few Arab citizens of Israel identified openly as "Palestinian", and an "Israeli-Arab" identity, the preferred phrase of the Israeli establishment and public, was predominant. Public expressions of Palestinian identity, such as displays of the Palestinian flag or the singing and reciting of nationalist songs or poetry were illegal until recently. With the end of military administrative rule in 1966 and following the 1967 war, national consciousness and its expression among Israel's Arab citizens has spread. An increasing majority self-identify as Palestinian, preferring this descriptor to Israeli Arab in numerous surveys over the years. Arabs living in East Jerusalem, occupied and administered by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, are a special case. Although they hold Israeli ID cards, most are permanent residents since few accepted Israel's offer of citizenship after the war's end, refusing to recognize its sovereignty, and most maintain close ties with the West Bank. As permanent residents, they are eligible to vote in Jerusalem's municipal elections, although only a small percentage takes advantage of this right. The remaining Druze population of the Golan Heights, occupied and administered by Israel in 1967, are considered permanent residents under the Golan Heights Law of 1981. Few have accepted full Israeli citizenship and the vast majority consider themselves citizens of Syria. Major Arab localities Arabs make up the majority of the population of the "heart of the Galilee" and of the areas along the Green Line including the Wadi Ara region. Bedouin Arabs make up the majority of the northeastern section of the Negev. Language Arab citizens of Israel are bilingual, and speak the Palestinian vernacular of Arabic and is sometimes known as "Israeli Arabic". Arabic is one of Israel's official languages, and the use of Arabic increased significantly following Supreme Court rulings in the 1990s. Government ministries publish all material intended for the public in Hebrew, with selected material translated into Arabic, English, Russian, and other languages spoken in Israel. There are laws that secure the Arab population's right to receive information in Arabic. Some examples include a portion of the public television channels' productions must be in Arabic or translated into Arabic, safety regulations in working places must be published in Arabic if a significant number of the workers are Arabs, information about medicines or dangerous chemicals must be provided in Arabic, and information regarding elections must be provided in Arabic. The country's laws are published in Hebrew, and eventually English and Arabic translations are published. Publishing the law in Hebrew in the official gazette (Reshumot) is enough to make it valid. Unavailability of an Arabic translation can be regarded as a legal defense only if the defendant proves he could not understand the meaning of the law in any conceivable way. Following appeals to the Israeli Supreme Court, the use of Arabic on street signs and labels increased dramatically. In response to one of the appeals presented by Arab Israeli organizations, the Supreme Court ruled that although second to Hebrew, Arabic is an official language of the State of Israel, and should be used extensively. Today most highway signage is trilingual (Hebrew, Arabic, and English). Many Arab villages lack street signs of any kind and the Hebrew name is often used.Arthur Milner. "Arabic in Israel: a pictorial;" Inroads, 1 January 2005Dr. Muhammad Amara."The Vitality of the Arabic Language in Israel from a Sociolinguistic Perspective"; Adalah Newsletter, Volume 29, October 2006 Hebrew is the standard language of communication at places of work except inside the Arab community, and among recent immigrants, foreign workers, and with tourists. The state's schools in Arab communities teach in Arabic according to a specially adapted curriculum. This curriculum includes mandatory lessons of Hebrew as foreign language from the 3rd grade onwards. Arabic is taught in Hebrew-speaking schools, but only the basic level is mandatory. In the summer of 2008, there was an unsuccessful attempt of right-wing lawmakers to strip Arabic of its status alongside Hebrew as an official language of the state.Nathan Jeffay."Knesset Hawks Move To Strip Arabic of Official Status in Israel"; The Jewish Daily Forward, 12 June 2008 Cuisine See also: Arab Cuisine The Arab citizens of Israel prepare Palestinian food, and follow Palestinian culinary traditions. Palestinian cuisine is divided into three main parts, Galilee, Gaza and West Bank cuisine. Rice is a very common staple ingredient and is an essential part of all Palestinian cuisine.http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=492&ed=43&edid=43". Islamic culinary laws known as Halal ''( ) greatly influence the cuisine of Arab Israelis and Palestinians which prohibit the consumption of pork and alcohol. Even Arab Christians do nut consum pork as they have not acquired a taste for it in the past, as swine meat is not generally part of the Middle East's culinary tradition. 'Galilean Cuisine' The cuisine of Galiliee resembles Lebanese cuisine due to its location and history of being close to Lebanon, meaning the ''hummus, ''a dip made from olive oil and tahini sauce is popular. ''Falafel ( ) ( ), a deep-fried food made of mashed chickpeas is popular throughout the entire Levant and Arab World, it is a national dish in Israel. Kubbi bi-siniyee is a baked snack made of minced meats (beef or lamb) and mixed with spices such as bulgur. Kubbi neyee ''is a raw-version of kubbi bi-siniyee and usually served in pita flatbread. ''Manakeesh ''is a breakfast food that resembles pizza, and includes ingredients such as olive oil, cheese and oregano. 'West Bank' ''Muskakan is popular bread dish in the West Bank, it consists of roasted chicken on taboon bread with pieces of fried onions, sumac, allspice and pine nuts.Cuisine Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) 2006-01-16. Accessed on 2007-12-18 Mansaf ''( ) is a Bedouin-originated dish that is mostly cooked on big occasions mostly made with large pieces of lamb meat on top of taboon bread. ''Jameed ''is a yogurt made from goat's milk, that is sometimes poured on top of the mansaf dish. Fruits are also predominant in the types of jams made in the West Bank. In Hebron, the primary fruits are grapes and in the Bethlehem regions, they make jams made of apricot. 'Gaza Strip' The cuisine of the Gaza Strip resembles Egyptian and other Mediterranean cuisine. Fish is a common ingredient in the cuisine of the Gaza Strip. Grilled fish is popular in Gaza and often topped with spices such as cilantro. ''Sumaghiyyeh ''is a native dish in Gaza and is made of water-soaked ground sumac and roasted with tahini sauce. Fukharit adas is a lentil-stew flavored with red-pepper flakes, garlic and crushed dill seeds that is made mainly during winter and spring. ''Qidra ''is a rice dish, named after the vessel of the same name which is made by cooking rice with various spices inside the vessel, and layered with a thin bread known as farasheeh and marinated in a butter known as ''ghee. '' 'Deserts' Common Palestinian desserts include ''halva and the Turkish'' baklava, ''a dessert made of phyllo pastry. Muhalabiyeh is a rice-pudding made with pistachios or almonds.Cuisine Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) 2006-01-16. Accessed on 2007-12-18 ''Kanafeh ''is a dessert popular in the Arab World and Turkey made of pastry-noodles with sweetened cheese in the middle. Notable Arab Citizens of Israel